In plain words
The Abuse Assessment Screen is a short questionnaire clinicians use to ask about abuse in private. It is one of several brief tools for . Others include HITS and the questions recommended in ACOG Committee Opinion 518. Clinicians ask every patient, not only those who seem at risk, because abuse is often hidden. The questions cover hitting, forced sex, and fear. Pregnancy can raise the risk of abuse for some mothers. The questions are meant to be asked when the mother is alone, so she can answer safely. The National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1-800-799-7233, helps with at any hour.
The deeper version
The Abuse Assessment Screen, developed by McFarlane and colleagues (1992), asks about physical abuse, sexual abuse, and frequency of abuse in the prior year, with a positive response on any item indicating abuse. HITS (Sherin and colleagues, 1998) is a four-item tool scored from 4 to 20. The US Preventive Services Task Force (2018) recommends screening women of reproductive age for intimate partner violence, and ACOG Committee Opinion 518 (2012, reaffirmed) recommends screening in private at the first visit, each trimester, and postpartum. Evidence that universal screening alone reduces violence is limited (O'Doherty and colleagues, Cochrane review, 2015). The main controversy is whether routine screening changes outcomes or mainly identifies disclosure that needs a safety plan.
Where it comes up
- Your relationship during pregnancyPregnancy: Mind and Life
- Your relationship after the babyPostpartum: Mind
- Depression during pregnancyPregnancy: Mind and Life
- Postpartum depressionPostpartum: Mind
What mothers here say about Abuse Assessment Screen
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Sources
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists — Committee Opinion 518: Screening for Family and Intimate Partner Violence (2012, reaffirmed)
- US Preventive Services Task Force — Interventions for Intimate Partner Violence, Including Abuse, Against Women (2018)